August 11, 2009

After I commented on the uniqueness of her cute tart tins, the glorious Nic of the spectacular blog Cherrapeno promptly and generously offered to send me some! From England!
Once they arrived, I set to work immediately, and even though I’ve not used miniature tart tins very often, I was excited to try. I made the same sweet dough recipe that Nic used and filled my little tartlets with some cinnamon-spiced vanilla pudding (my first made-from-scratch batch!). To top 'em off, I nestled straight-from-the-freezer raspberries decoratively into the fluffy stuff.

You can still see the ice crystals! Don't fret, dears--they thawed in no time.

These creamy canoes were quite tasty, and I owe it all to Nic. Thanks again--it's great to have a friend across the pond!

Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbles form at edges. Pour dry ingredients into the hot milk a little at a time, stirring to dissolve. Continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Do not boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and butter. Pour into serving vessels and chill before serving.

oh I could 2 dozens of those. They look so pretty. I made a similar version with a polenta dough, check it out at http://www.phamfatale.com/id_324/title_Frangipane-Petit-Four-with-Raspberry-Mascarpone-Frosting/

Those are ADORABLE! Don't you just love the food blogging community? Sometimes, if I ever think that blogging is too much and I don't have time to keep it up, I think about all of the people I have "met" through this and it makes me want to keep on going forever! Gorgeous boats!